sattahip, thailand during vietnam war
Several aircraft were lost, and five American and Thai personnel were injured. Like South Vietnam, Thailand was becoming increasingly dependent upon U.S. support. [7], From 12 to 20 May, USAID and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) coordinated the delivery of nearly US$1.2million of relief commodities to Yangon on 36 DOD C-130 flights, with supplies sufficient to provide assistance to more than 113,000 beneficiaries. However, the specific flight coordinates (longitude and latitude) of the points of bomb release were noted in the navigator's logs at the end of each mission, and a simple check of the map could tell the crews which country they were bombing. It is at the southern tip of the province southeast of Bangkok . U-Tapao based B-52s also bombed the southernmost part of North Vietnam near the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. Photo Credits: 6 Tom Petty, 697th. About this ebook This book is a story of U. S. Army Engineers in Thailand (1962 - 1971) - At the request of the Royal Thai Government in 1962 the United States Army sent a Construction Engineer Battalion to build a road to divert traffic around the capitol city of Bangkok. Thailand's Cold War role is usually seen through the prism of its support for the U.S. wars in Indochina. A few weeks later, HQ USAF authorized the release of these photographs to the governments of Laos and Thailand. On 7 May 2008, in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, Thai C-130 transports were permitted to land at Yangon International Airport in Burma, carrying drinking water and construction material. R. pilots had even gone into Hanoi's outskirts to rescue downed fliers. In 2012, a proposal for the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to use U-Tapao to support weather research was rejected by the Thai government. The "Military Assistance Group in South Vietnam" was renamed U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) on 6 February. Like the U.S., Thailand was concerned with events in Laos, which had been its buffer against intervention from both China and Vietnam. The 809 th Engineer Battalion (Construction) landed in Southern France on 15 August 1944. Library of Congress By September, the base was supporting 15 tankers. Schlight, John (1996), A War Too Long: The History of the USAF in Southeast Asia, 19611975, Office Of Air Force History, United States Air Force, Futrell, Robert F. with the assistance of Blumenson, Martin (1991), The United States Air Force In Southeast Asia: The Advisory Years to 1965, Office Of Air Force History, United States Air Force, Van Staaveren, Jacob (2002), Gradual Failure: The Air War over North Vietnam, 19651966, Office Of Air Force History, United States Air Force, This page was last edited on 17 March 2023, at 08:15. [28]:2458 The crew which had been taken to the Cambodian mainland two days earlier were released unharmed by the Khmer Rouge. Having the aircraft based in South Vietnam made them vulnerable to attack. Sattahip. 5 (May, 1973) pp. In September 1966 2 radio relay KC-135A Combat Lightning aircraft and their personnel were ordered to deploy to U-Tapao to support air operations over North Vietnam.[12]. Thai forces were generally respected by their American allies and inflicted on their PAVN opponents several times the losses they took; Thai media would often report on the war in terms of enemy killed, similar to American media. Steadily progressing and adding to the mission, U-Tapao welcomed its first complement of KC-135 tankers in August 1966. A total of 2,548 B-52 sorties were flown in support of the defense of Khe Sanh, dropping a total of 54,129 tonnes (59,542 tons) of bombs. bombers were not allowed to strike North Vietnam directly. USAF combat sorties from Thailand flown into both North Vietnam and South Vietnam grew as the Vietnam War expanded in the 1960s. In 1968 I was taken on a school trip to visit U Tapao airbase near Sattahip and Pattaya. [36] The 3rd Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Group left on 31 January 1976,[23]:152 however the base remained under US control until it was formally returned to the Thai government on 13 June 1976.[37]. Although there had been no campaign of strikes into North Vietnam since the end of Rolling Thunder, the Nixon Administration ordered a new air offensive, initially code named Freedom Train, later becoming Operation Linebacker, with relatively few restrictions on targets that could be hit.[26]. An American expat, who served with the USAF in Udon Thani during the Vietnam War, is writing a book about the city's history during that conflict. The Kingdom of Thailand, under the administration of military dictator Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn, took an active role in the Vietnam War. All of those groups were a constant threat to the stability of Thailands government, either through terrorist-style attacks or direct confrontation along the border. This marked the beginning of large scale United States military operations in Southeast Asia. After July 1971 the Headquarters, Royal Thai Forces, Vietnam, would be reduced to 204 men. the Vietnam War, Thailand was one of the places where GIs on leave went for a much-welcome break from the fighting. On 14 October 1973 following the 1973 Thai popular uprising, former Supreme Court Judge Sanya Dharmasakti, then chancellor and dean of the faculty of law at Thammasat University, was appointed prime minister by royal decree, replacing the succession of staunchly pro-American and anti-Communist military dictatorships that had ruled Thailand previously. [24]:644[31], On 12 May 1975, less than two weeks after the fall of Saigon, a unit of the Cambodian Khmer Rouge Navy seized the American-flagged container ship SS Mayaguez, taking the crew hostage. Early that year a combined U.S. task force was deployed to Thailand on a military exercise which included a Marine Battalion Landing Team (BLT), the 1st Battle Group. The sixth base is located at Takhli, in central plain about 120 miles north of . Command of the American units, however, remained with U.S. wing commanders and their Seventh Air Force/Thirteenth Air Force headquarters. US grant economic assistance totalled about US$500 million through the end of 1970. On 19 January 1961, PACAF had identified 25 airfields, 49 communications routes, and 19 urban targets. Hi Everyone, This is the story of what 2nd platoon and later all of the 697th had to endure at wonderful sunny Samae San. American troop withdrawal did not mean that American financial aid stopped, as happened in South Vietnam, and that may be one of the reasons Thailand was able to hold on when others could not. The USAF implemented Palace Lightning, the plan to withdraw its aircraft and personnel from Thailand. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. Although technically Thailand-owned bases for the Royal Thai naval and air forces, the installations served as headquarters for U.S. Air Force units that used them for operations throughout Indochina. The training camps were in Thailand. Between 1961 and 1965 seven Thailand bases saw the arrival of American warplanes. At its peak in 1969 more airmen were serving in Thailand than were serving in South Vietnam.